I don't know how this happened. Darby - my 10-yr-old male - hibernated as usual from about the 2nd week of November until just a few days ago. He's done this every year since he was 2 - goes into his hide, won't come out, refuses to feed for about 10 weeks. During that time, I make sure the cage stays clean and waste free and that there's fresh water should he want it. I maintain the temp at a pretty fixed 83 and the humidity at about 65.

This year followed the same pattern. When he poked his head out and came out for water yesterday, I knew he'd be ready for food today. So, I decided to do a thorough clean of the cage before feeding him - change the substrate, clean the glass, etc, which I don't do while he's hibernating. In picking him up and taking him out, I discovered that he'd had an incomplete shed while hibernating (yes, I know I should have checked more thoroughly, but I'm pregnant and was on mandatory bed rest until a week ago - my husband thought the shed was fine) and has crusty brown bumps extending about 6 inches from his tail upwards- it's rather nasty looking.

I immediately called the only vet in my area who handles snakes. He said it sounded like scale or belly rot and advised me to get rid of the bark substrate and put Darby on newspaper or paper towel, to increase the heat (which I would have done anyhow) and increase the humidity, and to provide a larger hide. He also had me schedule and appt. for Darby on Thursday. I did all that, and I also proceeded with feeding him, and he fed well.

I like this vet, but I know that I'm one of a very few people whom he sees with snakes, so he's by no means a big expert. I'm just wondering if there's something else I should be doing that someone can advise me on? Is there anything I can get OTC that I can apply? Any all natural oil or spray that might help him?

And, can anyone make any guesses as to why this happened? I changed the location of Darby's tank back in September, but I've monitored the heat/humidity factor very carefully since then to make sure it was stable. Calvin, who's in the tank next to him, hasn't had any problems.